Against All Odds, Spring Has Sprung and Family Cycling Fever is in Full Bloom!

Regrettably it has been a while since my last post. My most recent entry from early February was about my valiant efforts to keep going with winter cycling. February was a strong month, in spite of plenty of snowfall and cold temperatures. All told, I managed to eek out 115 road miles during the month, along with some hearty workouts on the trainer. The touring bike was an adequate substitute for the road bike, but I was getting increasingly itchy to get back to a more rigorous road biking schedule and really test out my new wheelset. I was getting all excited about March, since last year my season started, and then this happened. That's Ithaca for you—not enough snow when you want it most and then a useless and ridiculous early March blast.

March Madness

Enough already! Over a foot of snow on March 7th really put a damper on cycling for a few days, and I was cursing the weather gods once again. It used to be that snow got me all worked up in a good way, but  these days I just see it as an inconvenience. Fortunately for me, the warmer temps and heavy March rains made short work of a record snowfall. Finally the road bike resurfaced, and yesterday marked the beginning of my daily commute via Remington, Triphammer Lansing and back along East Shore Dr. It's so gratifying to take the road bike out after a long absence and get the confirmation that all that wintertime conditioning and cross-training really paid off.

Toby, the proud owner of a Fuji Ace 24

This week Toby finally got his Fuji Ace 24 from Glenn Swan's, and he is such a proud and happy guy. As Glenn predicted, Toby understood immediately that a road bike is so much faster and responsive on the roads than his mountain bike. It's sad that there aren't more road bike options for kids, but we are so fortunate to have Glenn's shop and his tireless cycling advocacy. Those 24" wheels are pretty cute, and it's a pretty impressive package.

Leo finally learns to ride...today!

And today, in the midst of submitting this latest blog entry, Leo has finally decided that it's his turn to learn to ride! Look how proud and determined our little guy is! Now that he's on two wheels, we are looking forward to family cycling adventures galore. This afternoon I'm taking Toby out to Lansing to start working on some moderate hill climbs. I'm not sure which one of us is more excited...